If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Finally, find it ironic that you bring up Stoke City as a team you would take over any MLS team when Stoke is the epitome of long ball percentage football.

It's stupid to compare the EPL and MLS, the MLS will never get to that level, not sure what the point of it is. MLS isn't the greatest league in the world but it's far from the amateur soccer you describe it to be.

For me by the way, the what is killing US Soccer is the NCAA. The university system is basically the core/backbone of our soccer system. In other countries their top player aged 18-22 are signed to professional contracts and live and breath soccer. It's their job, they train every day in an effort to get improve their skills.

The majority of our best 18-22 year olds (there are some exceptions) are playing in the NCAA where you might play at most 20 games a season and there are limits on the amount of time you can practice per week. Not to mention school commitments and the like. Not exactly the best breeding ground for future soccer stars when you think about it.

Talent pool aside, and I seriously doubt Klinnsman will overhaul the youth development system like he's said in the past. Agree much with the NCAA analogy. (I think Klinnsman had a bunch of quotes to this effect the past few years).

Still, that's a pretty big name to coach our squad. But if this move has been a good time coming, might they have done it before the Gold Cup, and let him use the tournament to try out new players/systems/whatever else?

I think we have a mexico friendly on aug 10th, and a friendly against costa rica sep 2 at the home depot center. Any other games scheduled before World cup qualifying heads on? I'm sure a few more games will be added, but I'd like to hope he's got some consistency, or lease for lack of a better word, steadiness in place before qualifying starts..

Talent pool aside, and I seriously doubt Klinnsman will overhaul the youth development system like he's said in the past. Agree much with the NCAA analogy. (I think Klinnsman had a bunch of quotes to this effect the past few years).

Agreed, that task just seems impossible and foolhardy for the US Men's national team coach. As I've mentioned before that is what the technical director (Claudio Reyna) is for. I don't see how it's feasible for Klinnsmann to revampt the youth system and coach the national team at the same time.

Originally Posted by ucsdguy1

Still, that's a pretty big name to coach our squad. But if this move has been a good time coming, might they have done it before the Gold Cup, and let him use the tournament to try out new players/systems/whatever else?

Not realistic to experiment in this year's Gold Cup since the prize was a spot in next year's Confederation's Cup. The chance to play quality competition in tournament form as well as the experience of playing in the host nation's stadium was/is too important to experiment in this last Gold Cup. This is why I think Bradley gave up on Ream early in the tourney to go to a Bocanegra-Goodson partnership. Also why he was willing to let Chandler sit and play Cherendolo at RB even though he surely won't feature in the next World Cup. But yea, it would have been nice to have Klinnsman in place when we played those friendlies earlier this year (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Poland, etc.) Although I do think Bradley did a pretty good job of playing young players in these games.

The upcoming friendlies will be useful for experimentation as well as playing new players. Also we'll have the Olympics in London for our younger players to get experience. Plus the next round of World Cup qualifying will see us play two crap teams along with Jamacia so there's some opportunity to experiment and at the very least bloody some new players.

all solid thoughts, is it possible that Klinsmann could start the ball rolling on the youth development and give the USMNT a different style of play and attitude and then take the role of technical director, and maybe have Reyna or Kries take the role of coach of the USMNT for the 2018 cycle or is it a pipe dream.

all solid thoughts, is it possible that Klinsmann could start the ball rolling on the youth development and give the USMNT a different style of play and attitude and then take the role of technical director, and maybe have Reyna or Kries take the role of coach of the USMNT for the 2018 cycle or is it a pipe dream.

Kreis is a decent long term candidate but I think most folks would be nervous about giving him the National team job when he never really excelled at that level. It might be an unfair criticism but it would follow him.

As for Reyna he has zero managing experience and I'm not sure if technical director sets him up for the head job. It would be interesting to see him manage somewhere at some point (youth teams perhaps) but seems unlikely that he would get the national team job without any experience.

I'm anxious to see who Klinnsman brings in as his assistants. He was known as a great delegator. Basically he was the project manage of that 2006 German coaching staff. His staff will be just as important as himself.

Plus the next round of World Cup qualifying will see us play two crap teams along with Jamacia so there's some opportunity to experiment and at the very least bloody some new players.

Is it home and away with each group team in this new format?

Guatemala seems like one of those teams that just might throw a wrench in when you think the US will roll over them. And you know playing at Guatemala will be a crazy environment. Still, I think the gold cup proved we can take care of Jamaica, along with whomever the 4th team was.

Guatemala seems like one of those teams that just might throw a wrench in when you think the US will roll over them. And you know playing at Guatemala will be a crazy environment. Still, I think the gold cup proved we can take care of Jamaica, along with whomever the 4th team was.

No reason why they should have trouble advancing.

Qualifying is in the third round, the round right be for the Hexagonal. So we are at three groups of four. Home and home with the other three teams and top two teams from each group advance into the Hex. So it's us Jamacia and the winner of Group E (likely Guatemala like you mentioned) and winner of Group F (includes Haiti, Antiguia & Barbuda, Curucao, US Virgin Islands).

So there's definitely going to some room to experiment and bloody new players as I mentioned.